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"It's well deserved," Haslett said of Hall's third Pro Bowl selection. "He makes a lot of plays.

"I told him before the season, 'You'll get somewhere from six to 10 interceptions in this scheme [Washington's 3-4] and you can be consistent the rest of the time you're here running it.' I thought he should have had 10. I told you that earlier. He should have had 10 interceptions. He's perfect for this."

Hall provided the Redskins' only touchdown in a season-opening victory against the Dallas Cowboys after stripping the ball from running back Tashard Choice and returning the fumble 32 yards as time expired in the first half.

In Week 7 against the Chicago Bears, Hall tied the NFL single-game record with four interceptions -- including one he caught one-handed and returned 92 yards for a touchdown. And Hall has scored two defensive touchdowns for the first time in his career.

But critics of Hall's selection contend he also has given up too many big plays and is not a true "shutdown corner." And Hall -- tied for second in the league with six interceptions -- has only had one interception since his spectacular outing against Chicago.

Shutdown corner is a nice concept, but the term really no longer applies in today's NFL. With the complexities of the passing game and the league's offense-friendly rules, it is almost impossible for any cornerback, even the best of the best, to truly shut down a star wide receiver throughout a game.

Hall is a risk-taker. He will gamble in an attempt to make big plays, and he will lose at times. But he's also the Redskins' top playmaker on defense, and Washington has benefited from his ability to go get the football.

"He's got great vision, he's not afraid to take some chances," Haslett said. "Sometimes, he gets you on the run. The thing people forget is he had 104 tackles. I think the closest guy was half in the National Football League. He had double the tackles than any other corner in the National Football League.

"He had two touchdowns, a couple of fumbles, and a couple of forced fumbles. I think all of that adds up. It's not just that you see a corner miss a tackle and you're saying, 'Oh, he missed a tackle.' You see all the other things."

On reflection, it wasn't RedDMV but MistaMoe who explained it to me up here. Something about "you'll see the difference between large tail and hot tail when they turn the lights on in the club at closing time."

Posted by: beep-beep | December 31, 2010 8:50 AM

Unfortunately my ADD doesn't allow me to read past three lines of either of their postings...so I guess I missed all that...but I do prefer hot tail.

Good point in this piece about the misnomer of a "shutdown" corner in today's pass-happy NFL. Skins need to sign Carlos Rogers and also make a play for former Skin Champ Bailey. Plus my daughter has an old 24 Champ jersey so I want to make that relevant and legit again!

bad blood between champ and snyder will prevent champ from signing with the redskins.

I don't see any FA's wanting to sign with the redskins since they don't have an indoor practice facility or a heated practice field

Posted by: hessone | December 31, 2010 9:26 AM

What bad blood between Snyder and Champ? Champ left because the Redskins were a dysfunctional laughingstock at the time, and while not a whole lot has changed since then, two things work in our favor: A) the Broncos are one of the few franchises more dysfunctional than we are and B) the guy that helped lure Champ to Denver is now the HC in Washington. Unless Champ had some sort of issue with Shanahan, it stands to reason he'd be willing to play here again.

Whether Baltimore or Houston or New England are more inviting is another issue altogether...

We aren't going to pay him, and we are in the "prologue" stage of what is going to be a painful rebuilding process. Considering how eager he seemed to leave DC, I don't think there's any sentimental lure to return.

Maybe it's not a good sign for the front 7, but it strains reason to say that it's a bad sign for a CB to have a high tackle count.

Seriously, last year Hall gets pilloried b/c he "can't tackle". Now that he's one of the NFL leaders among DBs in tackles, he gets slammed for it.

Haters can at least be consistent. Pick your ignorant reason to hate and stick with it.

Posted by: p1funk | December 31, 2010 9:44 AM |

It's absolutely befuddling isn't it? Why oh why do our own fans bash our own players, coaches, owner, and team
to no end. I mean, a little criticism is certainly justified (especially when it comes to owner) but to do it so often and so consistently is beyond me.

You make a good point. All year the fans on this board rip the guys on the team for not being perfect. Every position gets ripped and traded for draft picks because of dropped balls, penalties, and a lack of wins.

Moss has 84 catches and everyday someone on here is wishing him well at his next stop. McNabb has over three thousand yards passing and he's the reason the team sucks.

Sometimes, I think the fan base would be fine with 4 to 6 wins if we had one guy with ridiculous stats.

It's absolutely befuddling isn't it? Why oh why do our own fans bash our own players, coaches, owner, and team
to no end. I mean, a little criticism is certainly justified (especially when it comes to owner) but to do it so often and so consistently is beyond me.

bad blood between champ and snyder will prevent champ from signing with the redskins.

Posted by: hessone | December 31, 2010 9:26 AM | Rep
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i don't think so...Synder's like the Don King of the NFL..he make deals...besides that was like 8 years ago anyway...

Here's another thing that is beyond me. Why do I hear people pining for the return of Champ? Isn't one of the main complaints about this team that we bring over the hill, past their prime, oft injured players and filling a roster spot that a young, up and comer could be filling? So now we encorse doing it again? Ridiculously fickle and hypocritical fans.

Congratulations to DeAngelo Hall. Awesome season on a poor defense. The six picks were fun. The TD against Dallas made me jump up down in my living room. The excellent tackling is what got him into the pro-bowl. He really owned his side of the field. I look forward to more great plays next year as he continues to be leader for an improving defense.

Here's another thing that is beyond me. Why do I hear people pining for the return of Champ? Isn't one of the main complaints about this team that we bring over the hill, past their prime, oft injured players and filling a roster spot that a young, up and comer could be filling? So now we encorse doing it again? Ridiculously fickle and hypocritical fans.

Posted by: scampbell1975 | December 31, 2010 10:31 AM
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You are so right!...I was memorized by Champ for a minute there...but we need young guns..

People rip this team because we have had pretty much nothing to cheer about save 1999, 2005 and 2007 in the last 20 years and 2 playoff wins since the last Super Bowl. The fans keep coming back year after year despite being pissed all over by this franchise.

Here's another thing that is beyond me. Why do I hear people pining for the return of Champ? ...... Ridiculously fickle and hypocritical fans.

Posted by: scampbell1975 | December 31, 2010 10:31 AM

Well, with Champ, it's nostalgia...which does make one fickle and hypocritical. Hopefully the decision makers don't allow any nostalgia to creep into their thought process. I only want Champ if he's priced right and an effective bridge to a younger team....in other words, part of well thought out plan.

Whenever someone brings up Champ, I can't help but think about his last college game: the 1998 Peach Bowl. Bailey practically beat UVa. single-handedly. Played his usual near perfect game at corner, was very effective as a receiver on probably 25% of Georgia's offensive plays, and was fantastic returning punts and KO's. I was sitting in the stands hating him and marveling at him at the same time. Little did I know he was about to become a Redskin and someone to root for for years to come.

D Hall won me over this year. After the missed tackle against Jake DelHomme last year, I was pretty down on D Hall. His strip against Dallas and 4 int game against Chicago could have helped propel a better team to more victories. When he misses, he misses badly, but fortunately he has a short memory. D Hall got a passing grade from his evaluators this year. This team needs as many answers as it can get.

If Jim Haslett believes something then history and logic dictate the opposite is a better position to take. The stats speak for themselves. He's been fired NINE times.

D. Hall has allowed more catches/yards than any other corner in professional football this season. Did he gamble and make some plays? Absolutely. Does he deserve to be in the Pro Bowl? Depends on if a consistent player is "best" or if a sporadically flashy player is.

As far as tackles go, the CB should not have that many. That reflects the inadequacies of the base defense.

Seems Haslett's goal was to get D.Hall some takeaways. I'd prefer a top 10 defense as in years past.

Finally, I still find it ironic that last game we played so well on defense with half of the players on the field having minimal "coaching" time with our defensive staff. Any inferences to be drawn?

I think the full context of Haslett's comment was this: "Did you watch this guy play? DeAngelo is the most overrated...Is this on the record?....Oh, it is, okay, well, I think his Pro Bowl selection was well deserved."

I agree with the previous posts that said Hall had too many tackles for a corner. I also agree that a big reason for it was he got beat a lot.
What would be most telling is WHERE ON THE FIELD DID HIS TACKLES OCCUR? LIKE HOW MANY AT OR WITHIN A FEW YDS. THE LINE OF SCRIMMAGE, HOW MANY WITHIN 5-7 YARDS FROM THE LINE, HOW MANY SAY 10-12 YDS, HOW MANY 15 OR MORE YDS.?

The Bears game was special. However, her only had two other picks the rest of the year...this Sunday is still a question?
I recall the game against Dallas deep in Washington`s side of the field..Hall tried to jump in front of Witten, missed and Jason just trotted the last 15 or so yds. into the end zone??
I WILL SAY, HE RARELY DROPS A BALL..UNLIKE ROGERS. CARLOS FINALLY CAUGHT A BALL IN HIS LAST GAME...I THINK HE WAS AS SHOCKED AS THE FANS......

if mcnabb goes to arizona he will not have much protection because arizona will most likely lose russ grimm. without grimm their offensive line will go downhill just like the steelers o line did when he left there. grimm will most likely be a head coach next year. he has become a great o line coach and now he is one of the top people in line for a head coaching job.

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